Saturday, July 25, 2009

2009 – Day 205.July 25 – Genuinely Humble

Passage of the Day: Esther 6: 1 – 14 … Linked for study ...

My Journal for Today: Have you ever noticed, from the telling of the stories of the Bible, how often the quality of HUMILITY is lifted up and magnified for all to see the character trait which God’s word promotes as essential for the Lord to be able to do His work in and through His people? And most certainly the character of Mordecai illustrates this in today’s passage.

Yes, and the other truth brought out in Mordecai’s story, along with that of the works of Haman, is the old adage, “What goes around comes around.” Haman’s pride is coming rapidly back around to bite him; and Mordecai’s genuine humility comes back around to laud him in today’s story passage. And that’s the truth taught often in scripture … that we reap what we sow; and as Prov. 3: 34 (repeated in James 4: 6 and 1st Peter 5: 6) states, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Here we see Mordecai, seemingly the result of a cosmic and God-ordained joke, elevated to hero status; and what does he do? In Esther 6: 12 we read of him returning to the gates of the city – exactly where he had been before the King honored him with a parade. And Swindoll asks his readers (me) if we would let our ego be puffed up if we were honored by our President; or would we return right back to our life with no show of the worldly honors? Certainly looking at modern-day pro athletes or Hollywood celebs would give us a picture of how Haman would have wanted to be elevated and honored by his king. But in this wild and wonderful twist of providence, it is Mordecai which gets the honor; and what does he do afterwards? He models for us Christlike humility and becomes a hero in God’s honor guard of humility, along with other great names of the faith whose humility shone forth to honor God in the midst of troubled times. And of course the greatest of these models is Christ Himself, where His story of humility is chronicled so powerfully in Phil. 2: 5 – 11 - linked here. I pray that you’ll use that link and read that wondrous passage about how God, Himself, humbled Himself to become man and die on a cross.

And today we need to point our character in the direction of GENUINE HUMILITY and away from the compass point of pride; because it is only through our planting the seeds of Christlike humility can God reap the harvest of glory for Himself.

My Prayer for Today: Father God, I know I can be prideful when I get elevated by man. Keep me humble, Lord, that I may become Your instrument of glory. Amen

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